Joe PASS, you know that guy that was so good it was obscene, said that it was sad because all those new players could solo but could never play the backing track in a song, so he always had to do it.
You know, nobody is going to hire you, if you want to be a pro. If you go 'I can shred on the myxolydian mode, and then do some two handed stuff while I alternate pick the rest of the stuff with my thumb' the guy will hire you if you make the band sound better, and that implies 98% of the time playing good rhythm...